Improved railroad-switch



tartan Sucreries arnNT OFFICE.

EZRA B. LAKEVF BRDGEPURT, NEW JERSEY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,5936, dated August22, 1865.

To nil whom it' may concern Be itlrnown thatl, EZRAB. LAKE,-ot`l3ridgeport, in the county of Gloucester and State of New Jersey, haveinventeda new and Improved Railroad-Switch and l do hereby declare that thefollowingis afull, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which willenable those slrilled in the art to malte and use the saine, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings, torniing part ofthis specicatioi1 ,in which-L Figure l is a plan or top view ot' my invention:Fig. 2, a transverse section of the saine, taken in the liner@ @,Fig. l;Fig. 3,a detached side view ot' the rnnnergear ot' a locomotive providedwith an attachment to be used with my improved switch.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts.

llhis invention relates to a nen7 and improved seit-acting; switch forrailroads; .and it consists in a novel construction and arrangeinentofthe saine, as hereinafter fully shown and described, whereby the switchniaybebperated by the locomotive when in motion, and all casual oraccidental. moving of the switch prevented.

A A. represent the rails ot' a inain tracl :,aiid l5 B the rails ot' abranch track, t), aswitch, the rails ot` which are pivoted at theirjunction with A A, as shown at ai, the opposlte'or tree ends ot' theswitch-rails being connected to links b l, which are ot' such a lengthas to admit of the switch being,r thrown in line with either A A or B B.These links prevent the casual or accidental moving of the switch, andat the saine time insure a complete legitimate movement ot' the sainefrom the rails of one track to those ot' the other.

The switch-reitsare connected by trans-v verse bar, D, to which twolevers, E E', are connected, having theirfnlcra respectively at c c. @neof these levers, llis connected toa triangular block, l?, which works ona pivot, d, between the .railst A, near tliepivoted ends ot' theswitch-rails, and the other lever, 33t/,is connected to a bar, Gr, theends or" which are pivoted in arms El H', one of which, Hmorlts on, 'apin or pivot, e, near the outer rail B of the branch trach, and theother, H', en apivct, near the inner branch rail B, .between it and. theadjoining rail A of the main track. (See Fig. L)

l represents the running-gear ot' a locomotive, and J is a bar attachedthereto in snob a manner that it may be raised orlowered and also movedor adjusted laterally'. The outer end ot' this bar has pendent platesfattacned. between which a wheel, K, is fitted, said wheel, wheat-he barJ is down in a horizontal position, being in front of the locomotive,and at such a height as to come in contact with the block Rand hyadjusting the bar J laterally rendered capable ot' being brought incontact with either side ot' said block.

The operation is as follows: Suppose the switch C to be in line with thebranch track AA,inWliich case the end of the arm Hwhich is pivoted tobar G will be close to the outer rail B @tithe branch track, andtheblockF will be turned to the left, looking in the direction ot' arrow 1.A train of cars in passing along oneL Ain the direction indicatedbysaidarrow would, if the switch were not changed or moved, passdirectly on A A beyond the switch; but in case it is desired to have thetrain pass on the branch track B the engineer lets'sdown the bar J andadjusts the saine so that thewheel K will come in contact with the leftside otbar F, which will cause the switch to be thrown in line with therails of the branch track. In case a train be moving on the main trackin the direction indicated by arrow 2, and the switch U e in line withthe rails B of the branch trac r, the wheels of the locomotive at oneside will come in contact with the arm H and move the switch in linewith the rails A A. rlhus it will beseen that the switch is renderedself-acting, and by an exceedingly simple means.

I would remark that the switch may have the ordinary hand-lever, L,connected with it.

Having thns described Inyinvention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The levers E E. block F, and the arms H H', connectedby the bar Gr, all arranged, in connection with the switch and the railsof the branch and main tracks, to operate in the manner substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

nana B. LAKE,

Witnesses:

JOSEPH L. WELLS,

HENRY R. WISHART,

